Nepotism is part of a broader concept called corruption, which could be loosely defined as ‘the use of public office for private gain’. Since Cameroon is one of the most corrupt countries in the world (according to Transparency Interna- tional’s Corruption Perception Index) it comes as no surprise that corruption is part and parcel of everyday life.
I noticed cases of corruption in government departments, in the job market, in the local university, and also in the police force. For instance, one time I was watching a European Champions League match with one of the Buea Boys players. All of a sudden, a group of soldiers entered the bar and arrested every- body who could not present valid ID. These raids happen frequently, not because the law enforcers are looking for criminals but because it is an easy way for them to make money. Unfortunately I was arrested as well for failing to take my pass- port to the bar. A couple of bystanders advised me to pay the soldiers FCFA 5,000 or FCFA 10,000. This is the only way to get yourself out of this mess, they argued. Luckily, the player from Buea Boys had warned some mutual friends in town, some of whom were high-placed big men. When these men showed up, they convinced the soldiers to release me.
Football is no exception when it comes to corruption, as team manager Kalla of Olympique de Buea tells me. ‘Everybody in football is corrupt – from the president of FECAFOOT to the last player in the league. In Cameroon we be- lieve that if you give something, you should get something in return. In your case, when you’re doing research and are talking to somebody, he will expect that afterwards you will give him money for it. We are not prepared to do some- thing for nothing. It’s in the blood of all Cameroonians.’
At a more general level, Bayart (1993: xvii) argues that practices of corruption can be described as the ‘politics of the belly’. In Cameroon, he says, ‘… they know that “the goat eats where it is tethered” and that those in power intend to “eat”’:
It refers chiefly to the food shortages which are still so much a part of life in Africa. Getting food is often a problem, a difficulty and a worry. Yet, very often, the term “eating” conveys desires and practices far removed from gastronomy. Above all, it applies to the idea of accu- mulation, opening up possibilities of social mobility and enabling the holder of power to “set himself up” … “Belly” also of course refers to corpulence – fashionable in men of power. It refers also to nepotism which is still very much a social reality with considerable political consequences. (Ibid.: xviii)
Of course, ‘those in power’ are not necessarily politicians but could very well be club executives. Indeed, the phrase ‘to eat’ was used by people in Buea when- ever a club executive (supposedly) misused club money by pocketing it for pri- vate use.
Some players have told me that the technical director of Olympique de Buea has abused his role as a recruiter. He adopted a certain policy to be able to put a significant amount of money, given to him by the club president, into his own pocket. It is said that the technical director received a lot of money (some say FCFA 70 million, more than € 100,000) at the beginning of this season to recruit players. This is what the director supposedly said to several players: ‘I want you in my team and your signature premium will be FCFA 3 million (€ 4,500). But I will take half of your signature premium. You can either take this offer or leave.’ The technical director will then go to the club president to say that he has con- tracted a player for FCFA 5 million (€ 7,600) while in reality it was only FCFA 3 million. In this way, he is able to collect even more money.
Apparently, the technical director has been very enthusiastic in recruiting players because this year Olympique de Buea – as we already know – has far more players than the average team in Cameroon. This could mean that the director was able to collect a lot of money for himself but, of course, it is difficult to prove such matters. In any case, Essomba has never hidden his contempt for the technical director. ‘He’s a crook; he’s a very bad man!’
Both Ashu and Joseph confirm this kind of corruption by saying that such things also occur within Buea Boys. ‘You can go to the coach,’ Joseph says, ‘and discuss with him that if you sign for FCFA one million (€ 1,520), he will get FCFA 500,000. If the coach accepts your offer, he will take you to the president and say: “He is a good player. We have to select him.”’ So it is also possible for players to willingly make financial deals with technical directors or coaches to get into a team. In the end, the person who does the majority of the recruiting probably gets the most money.
Joseph gives me a story of the corruption involved when he was trying to get selected by Buea Boys. ‘There were players who were offering money and I did not, so the coaches didn’t want to select me. But our head coach, who is a German, did not know African tradition – he was just doing his job. He said: “Write his name on the list.” But the other coaches didn’t write my name but
instead put the names of their own players on the list. So when they called out the list in public, my name was not there. I went to the German coach and wished him good luck. He said: “What’s the problem?” I said: “My name is not on the list.” He called for the other coaches. They said they had forgotten my name. The coach made them cancel another name and he put mine on the list.’
There is a lot of corruption within the organization of football clubs. We have seen that the technical director and the coach can take money from players in return for being selected in a team. I also heard of cases of corruption in other circumstances. For instance, it is said that the financial problems within Olym- pique de Buea are related to the technical director. We know that whenever the president is out of the country on business, it is the technical director who takes care of money matters. While the president gives him money to pay match bo- nuses and training allowances, it is generally understood that he puts some of this money into his own pocket. He usually gets away with it because it is difficult for players to prove the corruption.
This week’s dismissal of the Olympique de Buea coach is allegedly related to corruption practices. The story goes that the coach kept some money for himself – money that was intended to pay the native doctor for his ‘magic’ services. I do not know if the dismissal of the team manager and the medical doctor are related to corruption charges as well.
Both Ashu and Joseph told me that the match against PWD Bamenda during the 2002 interpools involved a lot of corruption. ‘Since the match was very im- portant, the president promised us FCFA 100,000 (€ 152) each if we won the match. The members of the Executive Board pulled some tricks so that they could keep the money. It is said that the executives sold the match because they wanted us to lose the match. If we had won the match, they were supposed to pay us all that money. If we lost the match, they could keep it for themselves.’
These cases, though not based on solid facts, tell us that corruption in football can be negative for a team’s efforts to win matches. First, corruption during the recruitment period does not lead to the selection of the best players but mostly to the selection of players who pay the most money. Second, the role of the god- father is usually negative, since the coach is forced to select players for his team or put players in the match squad who are not necessarily the best ones. Third, it cannot be but a bad thing when club executives take money that is intended for players for their own private use. Players will not be doing their very best during matches for financial reasons. The last case concerning match bonuses is an example of losing matches through corruption. Although the impressive match bonus was supposed to be a motivation for players, it turned against them when other people supposedly wanted the money for themselves.